Shoe finishing tool



Jan. 16.,.1934. A. REED SHOE FINISHING TooL Filed March 26 1929 Patented Jan. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE FINISHING TOOL 'l Application March 26, 1929, Serial No. 350,081, and in Great Britain June 7, 1928 2 claims. V(c1. 51e-194) This invention relates to shoe finishing tools vand is herein illustrated as embodied in a wheel for scouring the edges of heels. It has been customary to make such tools in two Segments which are hinged together and which may be opened to provide for the insertion oi the ends of an abrasive cover between their free ends, the segments being locked together when the tool is in operation. United States Letters Patent No. 1,030,538, granted June 25, 1912, on my application, illustrates the construction of a segmented scouring tool. It has also been customary to employ a yieldable support consisting of a thick layer of felt, as shown in the abovementioned Letters Patent, to cushion the abrasive cover.

The present tendency in the operation of scouring tools is to rotate the tools at higher and higher speeds, while employing finer abrasives. Such operation of the tools has been found to result in less wear of the abrasive covers and in a ner finish to the work, While enabling the operator to. turn out more work in the same time. The full advantage of using a very fine abrasive upon a scouring tool which is rotated at a very high speed can only be obtained if the abrasive cover is carried. upon a very soft resilient support. The ordinary felt lsupport hitherto employed is of relatively great Y o thickness in order to give the softness of touch with ne abrasives, but also tends to pack 'una evenly and thus put the wheel out of true.

An object of this invention is to provide a scouring tool of simple construction that is suitable for operation at high speeds and with fine J abrasives, and which at the same time is free from the above-mentioned disadvantages.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, the illustrated tool is provided with a yieldable support comprising a flat tubular strip of iiannel, the two walls of the tube and the two lateral edges of the flannel being secured together by stitching applied in a manner to maintain the full lengthwise elasticity of the strip. Such a support for an abrasive cover may be made much thinner than a felt support, while being sorter and more resilient; it does not packy down like a felt support; and, because of its relative thinness and resilience and freedom from any tendency to packing unevenly, it maintains the true contour of the Wheel SiS determined by the periphery of the core. In other words, it insures that the wheel will remain in true and its use eliminates the need or" frequent truing up to which felt covered wheels are subject. The tubular arrangement of the nannel strip insures against any tendencyv of the edges f the strip tofray. While the above-mentioned Iiannel support is herein illustrated in relation to a short cylindrical tool ordinarily known as a scouring Wheel, it is evident that the advantages of a flannel support are not necessarily confined to its use upon tools which are short or which are cylindrical, .and it is accordingly understood that the invention, in this aspect, is not limited to rotary abrading tools of the wheelrtype. A novel arrangement disclosed herein, for securing an .abrasive cover upon the tool body is claimed Fig. 4 Vis a fragmentary front elevation showf ing the wheel illustrated in Fig. 1 in operation upon the heel of a shoe; and

Fig. 5- is a detail view of a flannel support before being applied to the finshing wheel.V

The body ci the improved ninshing toolconsists of a hub 1), a core 14 consisting of a disk of hard materialV such as wood mounted upon the hub 10, and a yieldable support 16 surrounding l the periphery of the core 14. The hub 10 may be mounted in any convenient manner upon a driven shaft 12, such'shafts being commonly provided with a shoulder and a threaded thrust collar between which a nishing tool may be clamped. The periphery of the core 14 is herein shown as cylindrical, but it is to be understood that a core having any usual form of periphery, for example conical or bulged outwardly at the center, may equally well be employed. The core' 14 is unitary, that is, itis either integral or built up of parts which are secured to each other in a manner to prevent relative movement. A iinishing coverV 18 of abrasive coated sheet material is secured, in a manner presently to be described, upon the periphery of the yieldable support 16. The

abrasive coating of the cover 18 consists, as has already been indicated, of grit which is of relatively ne texture. The yieldable support 16 is relatively thin with respect to the diameter of the core 14 and consists entirely of flannel wrapped in a plurality of layers directly upon the periphery of the hard core 14.

Upon each side face of the body of the scouring wheel is secured a metal disk 20. The disks 20 are mounted upon the hub 10, each of the disks 20 abutting a shoulder 21 formed upon the ends of the hub 10 respectively, and the disks 20 are bolted together by a plurality of screw bolts 22 through the core 14, thus clamping the core 14 between them and binding together into a unitary structure the hub 10 and the core 14. The metal disks 20 thus serve to strengthen and to reinforce the core 14. The disks 20 are of such diameter that their rims 24 extend outwardly or radially beyond the periphery of the yieldable support 16 to such an extent, allowing for the thickness of the abrasive cover 18, that either of the rims 24 may serve conveniently as a guard to protect the upper of a shoe from the action of the abrasive cover 18. The use of the disks 20 in protecting the upper of a shoe is illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein is shown a portion of the scouring wheel in operation upon the side of a heel I-I attached to a shoe S. The rim 24 of either of the disks 20 may enter the crease between the heel H and the upper of the shoe S, thereby enabling an unskilled operator to avoid marring the upper. As shown in the drawing, the peripheral portions of the disks 20 are beveled to render the rims 24 relatively narrow, thereby facilitating their entry into the crease of the shoe S.

For securing the abrasive cover 18 upon the yieldable support 16, a double or T-shaped clamping hook 26 having a shank 28 is provided. The cross-bar or clamping portion of the hook 26 is herein shown as straight and at right angles to the shank 28 to accommodate a cylindrical scouring tool; but where the scouring tool has a periphery other than cylindrical, the cross-bar of the hook 26 will be shaped in accordance with the periphery of the scouring tool. The shank 28 of the hook 26 is threaded into a cylindrical carrier member or plunger 30 which fits loosely within a barrel 32 to permit free sliding and turning movement, i. e., free axial and rotary movement, of the plunger 30 within the barrel 32. The barrel 32 is secured to the body of the wheel, being received within a cylindrical recess 34 in the core 14, and the inner end 36 of the barrel 32 being threaded into the hub 10. A slot or kerf 38 is formed across the outer end of the barrel 32 to accommodate a screw driver for inserting and removing the barrel 32. A slot 40 is formed in the wall of the barrel 32 in a direction inclined to the direction of the axis of the barrel 32. A handle 42 consisting of a rod or bar is threaded at its inner end into the plunger 30 and extends through the slot 42. A recess 44 in one side face of the core 14 and an opening 46 in one of the disks 20 and registering with the recess 44 affords access to the handle 42 and permits the operator to turn it about the axis of the barrel 32. The handle 42 engages the edges of the slot 40, and the latter functions as a cam, upon the turning of the handle 42, to move the handle 42, the plunger 30 and the hook 26 axially of the barrel 32. The axis of the barrel 32, and of the recess 34 within which the barrel 32 ts, intersects the periphery of the tool body and for convenience is made radial with respect thereto. The turning of the handle 42 in one direction will therefore retract the hook 26 to clamp the abrasive cover 18, while the turning of the handle 42 in the opposite direction will move the hook 26 outwardly to unclamp the abrasive At each limit of its movement, corresponding, respectively, to clamped and to unclamped positions of the hook 26, the handle 42 lies within the recess 44 and wholly beneath the outer surface of the disk 20, avoiding any undesirable possibilities which might result in having any member projecting from the body of the rapidly rotating wheel. A portion of one of the disks 20 is cut out, as indicated at 48, to compensate for the recesses 34 and 44 and the opening 46, thereby balancing the wheel.

An abutment for the hook 26 in the form of a metal clip 50 having a concave or shallow U- shaped cross-section is secured across the periphery of the wheel, the clip 50 being herein shown as straight along its lengthwise dimension to t a cylindrical wheel; but where the periphery of the wheel is other than cylindrical, the clip 50 will be shaped accordingly. The core 14 is recessed or countersunk across its periphery to receive the clip 50 and also the yieldable support 16 which is depressed into the recess beneath the clip 50, the entire clip 50, including its two uppermost edges, lying below the periphery of the adjacent undepressed portions of the yieldable support 16. The clip 50 is secured to the body of the Wheel by a pair of screws 52 which extend through the yieldable support 16 into the core 14. A hole is formed in the center of the clip 50 to accommodate the shank 28 of the hook 26.

In order to prevent fraying of the edges of the flannel support 16 in handling the same, the support 16, as shown in Fig. 5, is prepared from a 115 strip of flannel having its Width equal to about twice the thickness of the core 14, and is folded into flattened tubularform with the lateral edges of the strip abutting. A sinuous line of machineL stitching 54 is then run the entire length of the tube, crossing and recrossing the line of abutment o f the lateral edges of the strip. The two folded edges of the strip together constitute one wall of the flattened tube, and the stitching 54 joins each of these folded edges to the opposite 125 wall, securing them permanently in position and maintaining the tube flat. The wall opposite the folded lateral edges is continuous and comprises the central portion of the strip. By making the line of stitching 54 sinuous, the threads of the stitching will in no way impair the natural elasticity of flannel, and will especially retain the full lengthwise elasticity of the tube as the latter is stretched upon the core 14. The term sinuous, as herein employed, includes a 135 construction wherein the various crossings and recrossings of the stitching 54 may be angular or zigzag with respect to each other. A yieldable support 16 thus prepared may also be used in other types of wheels not provided with disks 20, 140 and with such wheels it offers the additional advantage of preventing fraying of the cut lateral edges of the flannel during operation.

In the manufacture of the wheel, the hub 10, the core 14, the disks 20 and the barrel 32 are 145 rst assembled in the manner above described. The plunger 30, without the handle 42, is then inserted into the barrel 32, and the threaded end of the handle 42 is then inserted through the slot 40 and is tightly screwed into a threaded 150 iio opening provided in the wall of the plunger 30. One end of the flannel support 16 is then tacked to the periphery of the core 14 and the support 16 is wrapped under moderate tension around the periphery of the core 14 until a layer of desired thickness has been obtained, the support 16 occupying the full width of space between the inner surfaces of the disks 20 and covering the periphery of the core 14. A support comprising about eight thicknesses of annel, or four wrappings if tubular form is employed, has been found to give excellent results. More or less layers of iiannel may be employed, however, to compensate for variations in the thickness of the abrasive cover 18, so that the rims 24 of the disks 20 will extend suiciently beyond the periphery of the abrasive cover 18 to enter the crease of the shoe. The loose end of the support 16 is then temporarily tacked to the core 14. The clip 50 is then secured, as above described, in the groove provided for it in the core 14, depressing the flannel support 16 beneath it into the groove. The tack for temporarily securing the loose end of the support 16 is then removed, and the loose end cut off at the edge of the clip 50, which, together with the screws 52, retains the support 16 in position. The shank 28 of the hook 26 is then inserted into the central hole of the clip 50, the support 16 having been punched through to permit the entry of the shank 28, and the threaded end of the shank 28 is screwed into the plunger 30.

The strip 18 of abrasive material is applied to the wheel by wrapping it about the periphery of the support 16, the ends of the abrasive strip 18 overlapping each other and being notched to accommodate the shank 28 of the hook 26, the adjacent portion of the shank 28 being flattened in a plane normal to the T bar of the hook 26 to enable the shank 28 to enter relatively narrow notches in the abrasive strip 18. The handle 42 is then turned to clamping position, thereby retracting the hook 26 while the operator holds the T bar of the hook 26 in position to enter the concavity of the clip 50 and to clamp both ends of the abrasive strip therein. The material of the abrasive strip 18 is supplied in various thicknesses, and to accommodate such variation in thickness, the hook 26 may be adjusted inwardly or outwardly with respect to the wheel, or axially with respect to the plunger 30, by reason of its threaded engagement with the latter. Such adjustment is eifected by turning the hook 26 through one or more half turns in the desired direction. When the handle 42 is in clamping position, the T bar of the hook 26 lies substantially within the concavity of the clip 50 and wholly below the adjacent undepressed portions of the iiannel support I6.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A yieldable support for a finishing cover of a shoe finishing tool comprising a strip of iiannel having its lateral edges folded to form the strip into a tube having two flat walls, one wall of the tube comprising the central portion of the strip and the opposite wall comprising the two. lateral edges of the strip, the two walls of the tube being secured together and the two lateral edges of the strip being maintained in said folded position by stitching applied in a manner to maintain the fulll lengthwise elasticity of the strip.

2. A yieldable support for an abrasive cover of a shoe scouring tool comprising a strip of iiannel having its lateral edges folded and abutting each other to form the strip into a tube having two flat walls, one wall of the tube being continuous and comprising the central portion of the strip and the opposite wall comprising the two lateral edges of the strip, the two walls of the strip being secured together by a line of stitching which passes through said continuous wall and through each of said lateral edges of 

